We see these occasionally in areas of fine lagoon sand, exclusively at night. While they usually slip away or bury in the sand quickly when confronted by a diver's light, the animal photographed below seemed a bit moribund, remaining exposed and clean of sand while these photos were taken. Eggs masses are common and composed of clusters of tiny white balls, each containing a developing embryo, glued to the undersides of rocks, usually in or near sandy areas. We have seen some gastropods, such as Gyrineum gyrinum, apparently eating these eggs.
A Gyrineum gyrinum apparently eating the developing eggs. This disturbance caused some of the nearly or fully developed tiny bobtail squid to burst from their cases and dart upward away from the rock.
Created 13 September 2015